Most flooring wear and tear occurs in just 20% of any building, with high traffic areas like your entryways and atrium subject to the most demanding use. Thankfully, you can help protect your flooring investment from the worst of the damage, using tiered entryway systems to protect carpet from rain, snow and dirt.

Tiered Entryway Systems

By combining ‘scraper’ mats and absorbent textile products, tiered entryway systems are designed to protect your flooring – capable of stopping 80% of dust, dirt and moisture from being brought into a building, within a space of just 10 to 30 feet.

Your building has three primary entrance ‘zones’, and by installing appropriate flooring solutions into each, you can help maximize the longevity of the carpet installed throughout your building.

Zone 1 - Outdoors

Outdoor areas just before your building’s entrance are perfect for installing heavy-duty barrier flooring. These ultra-tough products act as a first line of defense, designed to remove grit, dirt, sand and snow, using a scraping action to prevent the largest particles of dirt from ever entering the building.

Without a way to remove dirt and grit, over time, repeated foot traffic will grind particles of grit into your carpet. Think of it like sandpaper – with abrasive grains of dirt and sand wearing your carpet’s fibers down, and accelerating wear and tear. By preventing dirt and grit particles from ever entering the building, you can help protect your carpet from this type of damage.

Zone 2 - Indoors

It’s also important to protect your carpet from moisture. The main entryway for your building is a great location for installing flooring products that combine a secondary scraping action (using stiff fibers to brush off dirt) with moisture absorbent properties.

In particular, products with dark colors and patterning will excel at both retaining and concealing excess dirt and moisture.

Zone 3 – Indoors

After entering the building, textile flooring products provide a last line of defense, protecting your interior carpet from any remaining moisture. Most organizations rely solely on entry mats, but combining them with additional entryway systems in zones 1 and 2 will offer much greater protection against dirt, sand, rain and snow.

Many entryway products are available as both mats and ‘walk-off’ tiles – the latter offering a modular design that can be installed seamlessly into any entryway or atrium, minimizing installation waste in the process.

Your Carpet Tiles

With a tiered entryway system installed, you can rest assured that your organization’s carpet tiles are protected from the worst of the damage caused by dirt and moisture.

However, foot traffic alone will cause carpet to wear over time – and it’s a great idea to check out the Texture Appearance Retention Rating (TARR) of your chosen carpet. In areas with heavy foot traffic, it’s important to choose a durable, long-lasting carpet tile, with a TARR rating of Severe. This will ensure that your carpet holds up to the rigorous demands of daily use and heavy foot traffic.

In the event of localized damage, the modular design of carpet tiles will facilitate easy removal and replacement – allowing you to replace only the affected tiles, and not the entire carpet.